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Asunción, Paraguay, June 5, 2019
— IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, is providing a $25 million loan to Banco Familiar S.A.E.C.A. to support the expansion of access to finance for micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs), helping create jobs and promoting economic growth in Paraguay.
IFC’s financing consists of an up to 5-year $8 million loan on IFC’s own-account and an up to 3-year $17 million B loan syndicated to responsAbility Investments AG and Symbiotics Investment Management SA, two impact investment companies. This is IFC’s first investment in Banco Familiar, and the first syndicated loan via IFC’s B-lender program in Paraguay. This financing will allow Familiar to increase the volume and average tenor of its product offering to MSMEs, offering wider support to their expansion plans.
According to the SME Finance Forum, more than 222,000 MSMEs operate in Paraguay, employing more than 70% of the country’s workforce and playing a central role in job creation. Improving access to finance for MSMEs and strengthening their competitiveness are thus crucial for the country’s economic development
.
Despite this, the MSME sector financing gap in Paraguay is estimated at $ 4 billion.
“IFC’s investment will support Banco Familiar’s expansion in the MSME segment, an important component of the strategy we have been implementing since 2018. Offering longer tenor funding will allow us to increase the support to our MSMEs clients,” said
Hilton Giardina, CEO of Banco Familiar
. “Furthermore, the participation of other investors in the financing will help diversify and strengthen Familiar’s funding sources,” he commented
.
Banco Familiar provides services to a wide spectrum of clients, from retail to corporates. With 54 branches across the country, Familiar is currently the fourth largest branch network among private banks.
“IFC is very excited to partner with Banco Familiar, supporting the expansion of its business and the growth of MSMEs in Paraguay,” said
David Tinel, IFC Country Manager for Argentina, Chile, Paraguay and Uruguay
. “Supporting MSMEs is a key component of IFC’s strategy in the country as that sector plays a critical role in stimulating the development of a dynamic, competitive and inclusive economy, creating more jobs and promoting Paraguay’s economic growth,” he added.
In the past three fiscal years, IFC has committed approximately $6 billion in the financial sector in the Latin America and the Caribbean region, in long-term investments including mobilization. This financing to Banco Familiar is part of IFC’s strategic focus on supporting local financial markets to increase the development impact of IFC’s investments.
IFC’s strategy in Paraguay seeks to strengthen the country’s competitiveness by providing financial products and advisory services in key economic sectors, focusing on improving physical and digital connectivity to boost export-led growth and economic diversification, managing natural capital to integrate the agricultural and beef sectors into sustainable value chains, and increasing access to finance for MSMEs to support the creation of more and better jobs. For more information about IFC in Latin America and the Caribbean, visit
www.ifc.org/lac
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About Banco Familiar S.A.E.C.A.
Banco Familiar is a locally-owned private bank originally constituted by a group of retail merchants in 1967 as a non-banking financial institution. In 2009, Familiar started operating as a bank, and expanded its operations in terms of product offering and geographical outreach. Headquartered in Asunción, the Bank currently employs 1,088 staff, has 54 branches across the country and provides services to individuals, MSMEs and corporates. The Bank holds a 3.9% market share in terms of gross loans and 3.4% in terms of deposits as of December 2018 and serves more than 600,000 customers. For more information, visit
www.familiar.com.py
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About IFC
IFC—a sister organization of the World Bank and member of the World Bank Group—is the largest global development institution focused on the private sector in emerging markets. We work with more than 2,000 businesses worldwide, using our capital, expertise, and influence to create markets and opportunities in the toughest areas of the world. In fiscal year 2018, we delivered more than $23 billion in long-term financing for developing countries, leveraging the power of the private sector to end extreme poverty and boost shared prosperity. For more information, visit
www.ifc.org
.
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